She paused to stare out the kitchen window at Ransom’s prized gazebo in the backyard, the source of one of their earlier arguments. Now it didn’t seem quite so important, not when his health was brought into the picture.
As she thought about their past wrangles she could only marvel. Who would have thought she’d be in the man’s kitchen, making him tea, bossing him around in his own home? So far he’d complied…grudgingly…but she knew it wouldn’t last. As soon as the headaches disappeared he’d have her out of his house and banned from his doorstep. No problem. She would climb over the hedge and sneak in through the back door. As long as she felt he needed monitoring she would be there. She and Trevor, her new buddy, had an agreement and she was not about to let him down.
Still, that day she’d bullied him, barged in and taken control she didn’t know what came over her. As mild-mannered and gentle as she always was, such behavior was really not like her. She almost grinned at the thought. Okay, so maybe she wasn’t all that gentle or mild-mannered. But anyway, she had to admit she’d been a bit rough that day. It was probably because, deep down, she knew what would work. She understood his personality. She’d threatened him because she’d known it was the only way he would give in.
All the tea things now tucked away, Solie decided it was time to check on Ransom one last time and then head back home. It was early evening yet but she would have a long shift tomorrow and she wanted to rest up for it. She gave an inward sigh. No rest for the weary, or was it no rest for the wicked? She couldn’t remember how the popular phrase went but either way, where rest was concerned, she could do with a whole lot more than she’d been getting lately.
When she got to the end of the hallway and turned the corner she found Ransom sprawled on the massive sofa, his eyes glued to the big screen television. A basketball game was on and by now she’d come to learn that when the Miami Heat basketball team was on the court you kept your mouth shut and stayed out of his way.
She didn’t mind. His absorption in the game gave her the perfect opportunity to get an eyeful of the man who, strangely, had crept his way into her life. Or was it the other way around? Maybe she was the one who’d done the creeping or more accurately, the barreling in. Whatever. It didn’t matter. What did matter was that she was here, in his house, getting her fill of some Ransom Kent eye candy.
Even as he relaxed on the sofa she could see the power in his lean, muscled body. He was almost as tall as a few of the basketball players on the court, at least an inch or two over six feet, and looked just as fit. There was a six o’clock shadow on his jaw that made him look too sexy for any red-blooded woman to be around. All she wanted to do right then was climb onto the sofa where he lay, straddle his h*ps and reach down to cup that ruggedly sensual face in her hands. Then she would lean forward and press her lips to his…
“Did you see that shot? Damn, LeBron’s good.”
Startled, Solie’s head jerked up at Ransom’s triumphant shout. When she saw his jubilant grin she couldn’t help but smile back, confident that he had no idea what she’d just been thinking. What was it with men and sports? Outside of sex, that was the one thing guaranteed to keep them happy.
“So who’s leading?” she asked as she went to perch on the armchair across from him. She didn’t want to get too comfortable. That would make it too easy to be tempted to stay longer. “Your team?”
He laughed. “What do you think? These guys are the best.” His eyes flashed with mirth as he settled back into the cushions.
Solie had never seen Ransom so relaxed and she liked it. “So do you think they’ll make it to the finals?”
The look Ransom gave her told her she should never have asked such a stupid question. “You know who’s on this team, right? We’ve got Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh-”
“And the great LeBron James,” she said drily, finishing the statement for him. She might not be a sports buff but she could drop a name or two.
“The man himself.” Ransom nodded. “With a talented team like this I’m already seeing championship rings for all of them.”
“Even though they’ve got two already.”
“Three,” he said, happily correcting her. “I want them to beat the Bulls’ record. The way they’re playing they’ll shoot past six in no time.”
Solie cocked an eyebrow at him. “I believe you.” Then she clapped her hands onto her knees and made to stand up. “Anyway, I’ll leave you to it. I’m heading out now.”
That got her a quick frown. “What? So soon?” Then his face cleared and he gave her one of his signature Ransom Kent smiles. Heavens, the man could turn on the charm at the drop of a hat. “Stay a while and watch the rest of the game with me.”
“No can do,” she said firmly. If he only knew how, right at that moment her brain had to be beating her heart into submission. Deep down inside she wanted to stay, not for the sake of checking up on him, but just to be with him, get to know him. But that was dangerous. She would be a fool to go there.
And so she stood by her decision. Literally, in fact, as no sooner had the words left her lips than she rose from the chair, shoving her hands into her pockets as she got up. As fidgety as she was feeling just then, hiding her hands from view was the best thing to do. “I’ve got a long day ahead of me so I’m gonna go.”
“Aaw, not even twenty minutes more?” He gave her a cute puppy dog look that was hard to resist.
But she had to. At this point it had little to do with her work schedule. Now it was all about her growing attraction to him. She had to get the hell out of there.
“Nope, I’m heading out. Just make sure you don’t stay up too late. You need your rest.” With those parting words Solie tore her eyes from Ransom’s still smiling face and began to turn toward the door.
It was then that a buzzing vibration on her left butt cheek stopped her in her tracks. It was probably her mamita checking up on her. She dug into her back pocket and pulled out the cell phone.